Michelle Williams Snubbed by Former School

Michelle Williams has a shot at collecting her first Oscar Sunday night for her performance in Brokeback Mountain, but not everyone is applauding the young actress.

Williams, 25, who is nominated for best supporting actress opposite real-life fiancé Heath Ledger (who is nominated in the best actor category), has been snubbed in the press by the headmaster of her former school, Santa Fe Christian, in Solana Beach, Calif.

"Michelle doesn't represent the values of this institution. We would not approve of her movies and TV shows," Santa Fe Christian headmaster Jim Hopson told the San Diego Union Tribune. "We'd not like to be tied to 'Brokeback Mountain.'"

Hopson said Williams's performances, including her former role on the TV teen drama Dawson's Creek, represented the kinds of choices of which the school didn't approve and promoted a lifestyle contrary to the values espoused by the school. "It's not the word of God," Hopson said.

Williams's mother, Carla Williams, defended her daughter, saying of Hopson: "He never knew her. For some people, Brokeback Mountain is difficult. He has the right to his opinion."

And not everyone from Santa Fe Christian holds Hopson's view. One school employee told Carla Williams, "You tell Michelle how much I love her." Others, she said, had called to congratulate her and her daughter, who attended the school through ninth grade, when she left to pursue her role on Dawson's Creek.